


The Butterfly Effect

by harmony88



Series: Forever With You: Part 2 [18]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Kissing, Marriage, Mystery, Pregnancy, Romance, Saving the Day, Shenanigans, Ten and Rose In Love, birthing class
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:26:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29797422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harmony88/pseuds/harmony88
Summary: COMPLETEFollowing their trip back to the Torchwood Estate, Rose and the Doctor are piecing together all their clues about the mystery surrounding the mysterious diamonds that drain time. They get sidetracked when Rose starts to worry about giving birth, and they take a birthing class in the 47th century, where they (of course) end up having another problem to solve.“I’m Rose, this is the Doctor,” she said, and the woman just nodded.“And how far along are you, Rose?” she asked.“5 months,” she said.“May I?” Astera asked, gesturing to Rose’s hand, who nodded. She picked it up carefully and traced her fingers and palm, closing her eyes. “Strong baby...Unusual heartbeat, have you gotten that looked at?”“It’s a murmur,” the Doctor said, a small alarm going off in his head. He began to subtly look for a sensor of some sort, but Astera moved her hand and he couldn’t see anything. “We’re monitoring it.”
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: Forever With You: Part 2 [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2111892
Comments: 6
Kudos: 35





	1. D.I. Doctor

There have been times, when they are visiting Earth especially, when a stranger will ask them about their “job”. 

The Doctor usually brushes it off, saying something about how they ‘travel a lot’, but Rose tends to try to give a more specific answer, typically claiming to be ‘detectives, of sorts.’ 

She leaves out the aliens. Usually. 

So she was quite amused when she walked into the library and saw a cork board set up behind his desk. He was in his blue suit, his hair messy as if he’d been running his fingers through it, his glasses on his nose, and she looked down, noticing he had the diamond, Mr. Rhodes’ notebook, their own scribbles from nights when they had tried to figure all of this out, and a large text sprawled out before him. 

She watched for a moment, drinking a milkshake, as he wrote things on cards and pinned them to the board. He was so enveloped he hadn’t noticed she’d walked in, and she glanced up at his work, realizing he was trying to piece together the timeline of these diamonds with the information they had so far. 

He picked up a cup of tea and took a sip, and Rose smirked. 

He looked like a proper detective. D.I. Doctor. 

“How’s it going?” she asked, and he jumped a little. 

“Hello,” he said, smiling widely at her. She smiled back and bit her lip, taking in the entire situation all over again. “Come take a look.” 

She slurped her milkshake, offering a little to him which he took one sip of and held her hand, both of them staring at the board carefully. 

“Right, so, we start here. Sometime before 1879, Mr. Townes offered his brother to the Brethren,” he began, “He told Rhodes he had sacrificed too much, think we finally know what that means. And then fast forward to that year, the wolf is born, bites Queen Victoria...but the host, named Patrick, died.” 

“His brother,” Rose murmured. 

“His brother,” the Doctor sighed. 

“Torchwood was founded, you should add that,” Rose suggested, and he quickly jotted words onto another card and placed it next to the other notes. “I still think this could be a self-indulgent scheme. Townes trying to wipe his own guilt." 

The Doctor just looked at her, and she nibbled on her lip, reading the next card. “In 1881 - the diamonds were crafted.” 

“Pretty sure she got the idea from the Koh-I-Noor,” he said, pointing to the larger text on the table. He was speaking quickly, his brain in overdrive. “Just read all about it, in case I missed something, but seeing as the ones we’re trying to figure out are man made, I’m assuming the design was Queen Victoria’s idea. It, well, it worked before, she probably thought it might work again. Then they were artificially planted in the Kingdom of Arden.” 

“And the Queen brings the orphans she infected to the den to hide so she can use them and find a cure,” Rose added, still reading his notes on the board. “Then in 1901, she dies. Doctor, that’s twenty years where we have no idea what happened -” 

“No, I know, but well, sometime between 1899 and 1901, Rhodes was hired,” the Doctor said thoughtfully. “You were right, he only has about a year’s worth of notes in this book. He wasn’t her doctor for very long.” 

She looked at more cards, and continued to read. 

“The timelock around the wolves was enacted in 1901, using the diamonds, after Queen Victoria died. Someone was either trying to hide the secret -” she said, and the Doctor jumped in. 

“Or expose it,” he murmured. “Theeeeeeen jump a bit and we met another Patrick Townes, who we can only assume was a descendent, in 1968. A man obsessed with time, trying to talk to it, who somehow was given the Eye of Discord…” 

His jaw clenched, remembering it was still on this ship, and Rose handed him more of her milkshake. “I’m okay.” 

She set the cup down next to her and grabbed the next notecard, reading it slowly. “He founded the Kosmos Society sometime between 1968 and 1989. Their goal was to change the way the world thought about time, but he was shot by someone wearing a wolf’s hood. And flash forward to 2010, someone who somehow knew about Patrick is watching us. And they know about our baby,” she whispered. The Doctor sniffed. 

“Instincts?” he asked, and she just played with her wedding ring, looking over all their puzzle pieces carefully. 

“That it was probably the Kosmos Society who made those threats,” she muttered. He nodded. 

“Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth,” he said, smiling a little at her, and she smirked. “Maybe Angela or Penny told whoever was put in charge that we were there. Patrick clearly talked about us. He may not have thought of us as an enemy, but that doesn’t mean someone else didn’t. Especially after he was killed,” the Doctor said, deducting. Rose just sighed. 

“Sure, but...Patrick said his theories about time were often rejected…” Rose began, “It just doesn’t make sense.” 

“What?” the Doctor asked, smiling a little. They were a perfect team, always. 

“Any of it,” she said. “Why someone killed him, especially dressed like a wolf. He’s related to Mr. Townes, who spent his entire life, it seems, trying to turn back the clock on his mistake with his brother and make sure no one else had to suffer. He had those bullets, he was going to shoot the wolf and try to prevent something like this...It’s just...” 

They felt the wheels in their heads turn at the same time, deducting and thinking together. Rose set the card on the desk, and their eyes danced, suddenly finishing each other’s sentences as if they shared one mind. 

Which, well, they did. 

“Time just is,” she whispered. 

“And controlling it is futile,” he said softly. “Patrick believed time belonged to the universe, not to Earth. That it was larger than any one person.” 

“You think he was trying to stop all the work his family began a century ago? That he thought they were controlling it? Going too far?” she asked. 

“Maybe. Though, who knows. He was obsessed with black holes and physics when we met him, not werewolves, which, well...” the Doctor said, and Rose smiled. 

“Maybe he found out later,” she murmured. “Maybe in all his research he discovered something about his family enacting timelocks and crafting time-draining diamonds and -” she whispered, and the Doctor sighed. 

“Someone killed him. Someone who still wants the cure?” he offered, and she shrugged. 

“Possibly,” Rose finished. “We don’t know what they wanted. Except to get rid of Patrick.” 

“Well…” he said in the way that always made Rose’s heart skip a beat. “We know whoever they are knew how a vortex manipulator worked. And _that_ I really don’t like.” 

Rose bit her lip, and she sat up on the desk, dangling her legs a little. “And somewhere in all of this is Mr. Rhodes, and all we know about him is that he liked the Caspian’s Song constellation. It’s all just a bloody headache, isn’t it?” she said quietly. 

He looked at her as she read all the notecards over again, and she sighed. “You alright?” 

“Yeah,” she said, finishing her milkshake. “Just a lot of holes.” 

He kissed her temple and ran his hand along her back and she turned a little so he could hug her. “I feel better.” 

“Yeah?” she asked, looking up at him, and he nodded. 

“Oh, yes. We’re smarter than everyone on these cards, Rose,” he said. “And if _time_ is at the center of all of this...well…” 

“They don’t stand a chance against a Time Lord?” she asked with a small smile, and he beamed at her. 

“Or a Time Lady. Not when it's you and me,” he whispered. “The Bad Wolf and the Oncoming Storm.” 

He kissed her, slow, soft, and gentle, and he smiled when he tasted a bit of her milkshake still on her tongue. She was still seated, and he moved to stand completely in front of her, his hands on her hips as they kissed a little while longer, and she hummed when she pulled away. 

“I love you,” she whispered. 

“I love you, too,” he said, and he took a deep breath. “How are you feeling?” 

“Good,” she assured him. “My stomach has been rumbling all day, though.” 

“You want chips?” he asked, brushing her hair back off of her cheeks. She chuckled. 

“Always. Just...I don’t even really feel hungry,” she said. “But it just won’t stop. ‘s like butterflies.” 

He stared at her for a moment, and a smile began to break out on his face. “Is it doing it now?” 

“A little,” she said. He felt his throat tighten, and he placed a hand on her belly. She felt him nudge his mind and she gave him a curious look as she let him in, and he let out a small noise, as if he wasn’t expecting to actually feel anything. 

“She’s moving,” he whispered. 

“What?” Rose asked, her eyes widening. The Doctor just smiled at her, the board behind them completely forgotten about as Rose placed her hands on her stomach next to his, and they both felt it. “There! That’s what...Can your hand feel that?” 

“No,” the Doctor said softly. “Just in my head when you do. She’s not kicking or anything, she’s just...rolling around a little. Getting comfy.” 

“Sweet girl,” Rose whispered, and they left their hands there for a moment, both a little speechless, until the flutter stopped, and Rose realized her eyes had welled up. She blinked away the tears and the Doctor was staring at their hands, shaking his head in amazement. 

A daughter. 

“Look at you go,” the Doctor mumbled, and Rose watched the awe in his face with a sense of wonder, falling head over heels all over again as he took his glasses off of his nose and let out a breath, and he brought his eyes to meet hers, both smiling widely. “Tell you what…” 

“What?” Rose asked, and he cupped his hands to her cheeks, brushing his thumb across her skin. 

“I bet she’s going to be very good at running,” he murmured, and Rose smiled, pulling on his lapel a little so she could kiss him. It was an adoring kiss, with so much love coursing through it it felt, for a moment, like the twist of time beneath their feet stopped turning so it could watch and revel in the feeling as well. Rose kissed him again, and again, until he slowly pulled away and pressed his forehead to hers. “Rose…” 

“I know,” she said, “I’ve been feeling that for a few days. I’m so stupid, I thought it was -” 

“No,” he murmured, “Don’t do that.” 

“Can we look at her?” Rose asked with a soft smile, and he grinned and kissed her again as they walked to the infirmary, setting up the equipment like always. The double ‘whoosh’ of her hearts was like music to their ears, and they stared at the monitor, their hands clasped together. 

She was stirring just a touch, wiggling her limbs, and the Doctor felt his throat tighten beyond control when he saw she was sucking her thumb, a small gesture that wrapped her around his finger entirely, but Rose started laughing, and he turned his eyes away from the screen. 

Her hand was over her belly, and the laughter was growing stronger the more seconds that passed, and eventually he was laughing too, unaware of what she thought was so funny. “What?”

“She…” Rose said, her giggles filling the room, “She looks so alien.” 

“What? No, she looks -” the Doctor said, his brow furrowing, and Rose sat up a little, not enough to disturb the image, but enough for her point and laugh and banter with her husband. 

“I know she’s going to grow, but right now…” she began, still laughing, “Her head is so much bigger than her body...and...she just....” 

Rose was laughing harder, and he smiled like an idiot at her, eventually taking a picture and letting the TARDIS print it out while he sat next to her and grabbed her hand. “Oh, I am so holding this against you one day, Rose Tyler. When she wants to do something and you say no, I’m going to remind her that you -” 

He was teasing, his eyes twinkling, and she bit her lip as her laughter began to subside and hit his arm. “You look at that picture and tell me we haven’t seen some sort of creature that looks like that.”

“Yes, they’re called humans,” the Doctor said, and she just rolled her eyes. “I promise she’s developing normally, love.”

“I know,” Rose said. “And right now, she looks like a very cute little alien.” 

He just smiled at her and grabbed the sonogram, resting his elbow on the metal table as he looked at it. “Well, I suppose she _is,_ technically, that is, biologically, compared to humans, she might be, well...a little alien.” 

He winked at her, and Rose just rubbed her lips together and smiled, and they both started laughing a little. “Did the two hearts give it away?” 

He just beamed at her and kissed her, and he removed the sensors as Rose sat back up and pulled her shirt back over her belly. It was one the shirts from Corada, and she watched as he turned and leaned against the counter, their eyes dancing again. 

“20 more weeks,” he said endearingly. 

“That’s…” Rose said, and the Doctor just nodded, checking in with her as she processed. “I want to take a birthing class.” 

“Rose, your body will know what to do. It’s science, it’s -” he started to say, and she just gave him a look. 

“I don’t care about that, I just... need to be prepared,” she said. “I just want to take one. Just one, please?” 

He sighed, looking at her for a moment, and he saw a slight trace of fear in her eyes that made his stomach clench. “Where do you want to give birth?” 

“I dunno, I hadn’t thought about it,” she said. “See? I need a class.” 

She was whining a little and he smirked at her and stepped forward, running his hand over her knees. “You could do it here, which means we should find some sort of home birth...something. Though I am a doctor, and I do know -” 

“Maybe. What are my other options?” she asked. He smiled a little, his hearts starting to pound at this conversation. 

“New Earth?” he suggested. 

“No,” she said seriously, and he burst into laughter. “What?! They have great chips, but those cats, green robes or not, are not touching our baby.” 

“It was a joke,” he said, “They do have state of the art equipment, though. We could potentially go somewhere in the future, or another planet...” 

“Or?” she whispered. 

“The villa, or Martha’s hospital...I’m sure I can get privileges and stop them from taking her away and running tests on her, but that’s something to consider. Anywhere not private, Rose, we run the risk of someone listening to her hearts, or -” he began, his voice very careful, and she shook her head. 

“Here or the villa,” she said. “But I want Mum there, so….here.” 

“You sure?” he asked, butterflies in his stomach, and she nodded. 

“Yeah,” she said. “It feels right. We fell in love here. She was conceived here, she’ll grow up here…” 

He stared at her, the image of a small blonde head running around the console flashing through his mind and he pulled her into a hug, running his hands up and down her back. “I love you.” 

“I love you, too,” she said, “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing,” he assured her, pulling away and smiling at her. “I’m happy.” Her favorite smile greeted him and made his breath hitch, and he let out a breath. “Right, then... We need to find a home birth class of some sort. Brilliant.” 

“You don’t want to do it, do you?” she asked knowingly and he just sniffed. 

“No...I do, yeah, it’ll be, you know...Good,” he said, his voice rising a little, and she just bit her lip. 

“We don’t have to,” she said. “I just...20 weeks, Doctor, that’s not a lot of time. And I’m…” 

“We’re doing it,” he said. “Whatever you want, we’re doing. Don’t worry about me.” 

“Thank you,” she said. He nodded and kissed her. 

“We’ll go tomorrow,” he said softly. “Sound good?” 

She smiled at him and they walked out of the infirmary, letting their cork board and problem solving go for the night, and instead had a fairly quiet evening in the Vortex. They made dinner, watched telly, he gave her a small massage, lecturing her about how she needed to stretch but not overstretch now that her body was releasing fewer timestamps, and they fell asleep tangled up in each other. 

And for some reason that really irritated him, he kept dreaming about someone knocking four times.


	2. Take a Class

They stepped off the TARDIS into an industrial city. Tall skyscrapers towered above their heads, and the Doctor held Rose’s hand, looking up at the single sun and small clouds, and she took a deep breath, noticing the air smelled a little of oil. He smiled. 

“Welcome to Chicago, Illinois!” he exclaimed, and Rose stared at him. 

“What year is this?” she asked, looking around. It looked nothing like any pictures of this city she’d ever seen, and he just shrugged. 

“4,617,” he said. “I looked it up this morning, scanned the history of Earth for the best reviewed birthing classes, and this place came up. There are other planets, I suppose, that would be a slightly better match for all the equipment and medicine I have on the TARDIS, but...I just thought...”

“Maybe I should hear it from a human?” she said, and he just nodded.She smiled at him, realizing he spent a decent amount of effort researching this for her even though she knew he didn’t want to come, and she squeezed his hand. “Thank you.” 

“Of course,” he said softly, letting hazel galaxies swim in chocolate before he broke, and his boisterous self came out to play. “Plus, Rose Tyler! They still have deep dish pizza, and that, let me tell you, is an absolute abomination we have to try.” 

She laughed, following him as he led her into the city. The cars hovered above the ground, all electric, and she noticed the buildings were made of a metal she’d never seen before, which the Doctor explained was solar powered as the planet had become overrun on electrical grids a few centuries before and nearly burned itself out of existence. Everyone was on a mobile device, which she supposed wasn’t too far off from her world now, and she took it all in, not quite surprised, but still found it all breathtaking. 

They had time to stop for breakfast, and they were sitting out on the patio of a small cafe, people watching, and Rose took a sip of tea. “Oh that’s awful,” she said. 

“Too weak?” he asked, chewing, and she nodded, taking another sip anyway because her pregnancy brain still wanted it, and he just chuckled as he looked around. “So, back in the 21st century this city had a population of, oh, about 2.6 million people, but it all doubled in the 30th, tripled in the 35th, and now there are close to 9 million residents living all around that lake.” 

He gestured with his head toward Lake Michigan, which he knew was no longer natural in any way, and Rose just shook her head. “Wow.”

“Human beings,” he mused. “Always said you’re brilliant. You just...survive.” 

She smiled a little and took a bite of her own food, and they chatted for a bit before he took her hand. They continued to walk further down the streets, him still lecturing her happily about the long history of the Windy City, eventually reaching a place called the Honeycomb Birthing Center. 

He pushed the doors open, letting Rose go in first. 

It felt like walking into a spaceship. The walls were angled and covered in a soft white material, and there were welcome screens with the logo of the company on all sides of them. A woman sat behind the desk wearing pink scrubs, and Rose rolled her eyes inwardly at the predictability even in the 47th century. She glanced up and flashed them a smile, and she stood, holding out her hand to give her a small handshake. 

“Welcome,” she said. “My name is Grace. Do you have an appointment?” 

“No,” the Doctor said, “We’re here for your home birthing class? Preferably one that focuses mostly on what to expect with labor.”

“Oh, home births are wonderful,” she said, “Such intimacy between partners and baby.” 

“Right,” the Doctor said, just looking at her, “So...Can we sign up?” 

“Oh, of course! I’m sorry,” Grace said, holding out a computer to them. “We need your cornea scans and your IDs.” 

“You need to scan our eyes?” Rose asked, and Grace looked at her in surprise. 

“Of course,” she said. 

“Why?” Rose pressed further, and Grace’s smile faltered just a touch, as if she was trying to remember protocol if someone asks a question like that. 

“We require cornea scans for every patient. We have so many residents now, we needed a way to help keep medical records clear and precise. Cornea scans make it nearly impossible to confuse anyone,” she said kindly. 

The Doctor just nodded and sniffed. “Do we both need to do it?” 

“No, just the mother,” Grace said kindly. “I don’t want to assume, but are you the father?” 

“Yes,” he said. She nodded, her smile growing wider. 

“Congratulations to you both,” she said. “What is your name, miss?” 

“Rose,” she said, and Grace punched something into the computer. 

“Alright, Rose, whenever you’re ready. Hold your right eye to this screen,” she instructed, and Rose waited for a moment to see if her instincts were speaking to her at all, and she glanced at the Doctor who just winked.

It was over in a second, and Grace pulled the computer back, typing something onto the file. “Full name?”

“Rose Marion Tyler,” she said. Grace nodded. 

“Blood type?” she asked, and Rose rubbed her lips together, looking at her husband sheepishly, who bit his cheek and squeezed her hand, finding her entirely adorable. 

“B+,” he said, and Grace laughed. 

“Wow,” she said. “My partner can barely remember my birthday.” 

Neither Rose or the Doctor laughed, not finding the joke very funny, and she just handed the screen back to Rose. “Go ahead and sign here.” 

“What’s this?” Rose asked, and Grace smiled. 

“My, you two ask a lot of questions. We’re not used to that,” she said, laughing, and Rose tilted her head at her, deducting. “I’m sorry. It’s a waiver. Liability, that sort of thing.” 

Rose took the computer from her and looked it over, and the Doctor stood behind her, also reading, but Rose didn’t see anything that was out of the ordinary and signed, and Grace looked at the Doctor. 

“You too, since you’ll be taking the class,” she said. The Doctor sniffed and signed ‘James McKinnon’ under Rose’s name, handing it back to Grace. “Thank you. The next one begins in about ten minutes. Can I see your IDs?”

They flashed psychic paper at her and she smiled, looking at the door next to her. 

“First session is always complimentary, and a few couples are already inside. Just go down the hall and take a left by the fountain, you can’t miss it,” she told them. 

“Thank you,” the Doctor said, and he took Rose’s hand and they moved forward, noticing pictures of happy families who must have been clients along the wall. There was a garden in the middle of gold pillars in the center of the room, encased in glass, and Rose saw butterflies flying around an assortment of greenery and flowers, and the roof had been hollowed out, allowing sunlight to filter in just that spot. She gave the Doctor a look, finding the entire thing a little much, and he just made a face at her. 

“What? The reviews, Rose! You wanted to come to a class, I got you a class,” he said, and she just rolled her eyes as they passed the fountain, and saw an open door with two other couples inside, waiting for the instructor to arrive. When they walked in everyone glanced up, and Rose gave a small wave. 

“Hello,” she said, and one woman smiled at her. 

“Hello,” she said. “I’m Erica. This is Ryan.” 

“Rose,” she said. “This is my husband, the Doctor.” 

“That’s your name?” the other woman asked, and the Doctor just nodded. 

“Why, what’s yours?” he asked, and the woman just laughed a little. 

“Sophia,” she said. “This is my wife, Lauren.” 

“Hello,” the Doctor said cheerily, a wide grin on his face, and Lauren smiled back at him. 

“Have you….done this before?” Rose asked. Both couples laughed. 

“Oh, yes, we’re regulars,” Lauren said. “Astera is wonderful.” 

“Sorry, who’s that?” the Doctor asked, and everyone apart from Rose stared at him. 

“The instructor,” Lauren said. “She can do things no other midwife can. You just...signed up and didn’t look into who was teaching?” 

The Doctor didn’t say anything, and Rose noticed all the pregnant women had a round, glowing ball of some sort with them, so she walked to the back of the room to grab one. The Doctor followed, sharing a look with her as he took one off of a rack for her and walked back to the circle, settling in. 

“Is this your first?” Erica asked, and Rose wasn’t sure how to answer her. The Doctor felt very uncomfortable at the intensity of everyone’s gaze, wishing Rose would have let him explain what she could expect in labor so he didn’t have to listen to whatever spiel this Astera woman was about to give, but he just held her hand as they adjusted their positions so she was resting in between his legs like the others, and he ran his hand along her belly. 

“It’s our first, yes,” he said. Rose felt her throat tighten, worried he was thinking about his sons as she leaned back against him. 

_I’m sorry._

_Oh, I’m fine, Rose. This is about you._

_Doctor -_

_Stop. I can think about them from time to time. I promise I’m okay._

She played with his wedding ring when suddenly the door closed on its own and the lights dimmed. It startled her a little when a circle appeared in the middle of the roof, and a woman in a purple romper lowered into the middle on a platform, turning in a 360 degree rotation. 

The Doctor and Rose just watched, and the woman stepped off the metal base once it touched the floor and pressed a button she had in her hand, letting it rise back up into the roof. “Welcome, families.” 

“Hello,” the others around them said, awestruck, and the woman looked at Rose and the Doctor, smiling at them. 

“You two are new,” she said. “I am Astera. It is a pleasure to meet you.” 

Her purple jumper was made of silk, Rose realized, once the woman stood closer. Her skin was flawless, not even a freckle, and her long silver hair was twisted along her back, and Rose saw a butterfly clip holding it all together. She looked ethereal and wise, and she knelt down in front of Rose, still smiling. 

“I’m Rose, this is the Doctor,” she said, and the woman just nodded. 

“And how far along are you, Rose?” she asked. 

“5 months,” she said. 

“May I?” Astera asked, gesturing to Rose’s hand, who nodded. She picked it up carefully and traced her fingers and palm, closing her eyes. “Strong baby...Unusual heartbeat, have you gotten that looked at?” 

“It’s a murmur,” the Doctor said, a small alarm going off in his head. He began to subtly look for a sensor of some sort, but Astera moved her hand and he couldn’t see anything. “We’re monitoring it.” 

Rose nudged his side just a little, making him bite his cheek. 

“Good,” she said. “Is this your first class?” 

They both nodded, and Astera took a breath, moving her hand from Rose’s palm to her wrist, holding it firmly. 

“Isn’t she wonderful?” one of the women asked the Doctor, but he wasn’t paying attention to them. Rose had stiffened against him as Astera slowly twisted her wrist, and he was watching her carefully. 

“You can relax. I apologize. Your pulse is strong, too. That’s good,” she said. “You need that. Home births are a wonderful thing. Centuries ago, many performed them in a tub of water or a bed. We can prepare you for either of those, of course, but nowadays we have our circles here to help guide you, so if you want we can -” 

“Oh,I just want to know what to expect when I’m in labor, really,” Rose said. “He’s a doctor, and so...I dunno, I just wanted to take a class. He’s brilliant, and I know that he’ll take care of us, and...but -”

“Rose,” the Doctor said softly, sensing her nerves, and the other two couples stared at the way he was able to comfort her with just a touch, watching as Rose just took a deep breath and pressed her body against his like she belonged there. 

Astera noticed too, and she looked at the Doctor and pondered. He stared back at her, his senses still more alert than they probably should be. “What do you practice?” 

“Oh...Bit of everything, really,” he said. “How could you feel our baby’s heart?” 

“I’m very good at my job,” she assured him with a smile. He looked at Rose who sat up a little straighter, and Astera walked back to the middle of the room. “The balls are Honeycomb Birthing Center’s design, and they do a variety of different things, all with the goal of preparing the body for birth. Let’s start with labor pains. Press the middle of your ball three times. Expectant mothers, keep your hand on the ball until I tell you to release.” 

The Doctor wanted to scan it so badly, but Rose shook her head, not wanting to draw any more attention to themselves. She was nervous, and her instincts felt a little jumbled, but she tried to put that aside as the ball began to vibrate and twist, some sort of futuristic technology even the Doctor hadn’t seen before, and suddenly all three pregnant women were screaming, and the Doctor felt all of Rose’s pain in his head. 

She put her block up. 

“Rose, let go,” he said urgently, about to remove her hand when Astera snapped her fingers. 

“Stop,” she said, and Rose dropped the ball. “That was a small contraction. What you might feel at the start of labor.” 

“The start?” Rose gasped, and the Doctor grabbed the ball and scanned it, not caring if anyone asked questions. 

He glanced up at Astera who was staring at him, and he lowered his sonic screwdriver, “Just wanted to make sure it was safe.” 

“Of course it is,” she said, almost sounding offended. “They don’t affect the baby or the mother in any way. It’s all a simulation. Tell me, Doctor, where are you from? You two must be a long way from home. Those accents.”

“London,” he said, smiling politely at her. “Here on business.” 

“Of course,” Astera said, the entire exchange dripped in pleasantries. Rose just looked at him. 

“Stop, I’m fine,” she whispered, and he clenched his jaw as Astera instructed them to touch the ball again, this time increasing the intensity of the simulation, and Rose realized, as painful as this was, it was a fraction of what she felt on the day she received her regenerations. 

That thought gave her comfort. 

She seemed to want to continue, so he kept his mouth shut as they repeated it again, and again. Each time Rose felt more pain, and her screams grew longer. She gripped the Doctor’s hand so tightly at one point he thought she might break it, and as he heard the sounds that escaped her throat like nails on a chalkboard and looked at the way the veins in her neck popped out, when he saw how red her face had gotten, he realized that he was entirely unprepared for this as well. 

Rose in pain broke him in ways that, in the past, have made him tear through the fabric of the universe to stitch the wounds, and he hated knowing she was doing this to herself when she didn’t need to. 

Her body would know what to do. It’s biology. 

The other two pregnant mothers were screaming, though they weren’t as loud as Rose, and somewhere in the back of the Doctor’s head he deduced they must have experienced this before, and this was all training their minds to expect the pain.

And suddenly, he felt angry. 

He closed his eyes, trying not to let Rose’s screams get to him, knowing they’d be over soon and they weren’t real. Except they _were,_ and she was in pain, and he felt a storm bubble inside of him he was desperately trying not to act on, not wanting to be that _man,_ who tells a room of women what they should and shouldn’t do with their bodies, but all he could think about was how masochistic this felt. 

He watched Rose, then Astera very carefully, and he looked down at the ball. 

The simulation stopped and he took it immediately, looking it over as his wife caught her breath. 

“Are you alright?” he whispered, and she nodded. It didn’t make him feel better, and he was about to scan her when Astera snapped her fingers, and all the balls raised into the air and spun, and they broke apart a little, becoming small robot babies. 

“We’re done with that portion, well done, mothers,” she said, and she snapped again. The babies lowered into the arms of each pregnant woman, and Astera’s eyes locked with the Doctor’s as he sniffed and clenched his jaw. 

He looked at Rose, who looked like she was about to be sick. 

“That…” she whispered, but it was all she could say. He lifted his sonic screwdriver but she placed a hand on his arm and let out a shaky breath, and then looked down at the robot doll that was resting in her arms. “That was all in my head.” 

“Yes,” Astera said, “Your baby, your cervix, your uterus, your birthing canal, all if it was entirely untouched and safe. And labor pains, when you actually are in the midst of it, might be slightly more...defined, but that’s the closest we can get with a mental stimulation. It’s all to prepare you.” 

Astera was explaining why Honeycomb Birthing Center uses these practices, but Rose couldn’t focus. Her instincts, which had been hard to read, were wide awake now, and the Doctor recognized the look in her eye. He breathed out a sigh of relief, realizing he wasn’t the only one who found something off about all of this, and she nudged her mind to him. 

_Can I scan you, please?_

_I’m fine. But she’s hiding something. That was...invasive._

_What do you mean?_

_I mean...I don’t know. But let’s just play along and see, yeah?_

He looked at her and he could tell she was feeling alright, so he let out a breath and looked back at Astera, who guided them through another exercise with the robot babies. Since it was a home birth class, and a lot of her instructions were what to do in the moments after the baby was born. The Doctor already knew it all, and he was relieved when Astera wasn’t giving out any harmful or incorrect advice, and he worked with Rose, winking a little at her as he caught the robot from between her legs and took care of it in all the proper ways, and Astera just smiled at him. 

“She did say you were a doctor,” she hummed. “Well done.” 

He stayed silent as he watched her walk around the room and check on everyone else, and he noticed her butterfly clip as well. Just as it had with Rose, something about it felt unique and he handed the robot back to her as he figured out his next move. 

Astera came to the middle of the room and snapped her fingers again, and the robot babies raised in the air, transforming back into a circle. “Well, everyone. I must say. Your children are in good hands. What questions do you have?” 

Rose and the Doctor just waited as the other two couples asked more about medicines to give. None of them were asking obvious questions, which told the Doctor they had indeed been here quite a few times, and Rose felt her stomach flutter as Alice moved around just a little. Their minds were still connected and he turned to her, smiling as they both touched her belly. 

It reminded him of butterflies too, just as Rose had said, and he looked back at Astera. 

“Where did you get your clip?” he asked, interrupting Ryan mid-sentence. 

“I’m sorry?” Astera said, and he cleared his throat. 

“In your hair. Where did you get it?” he repeated. 

“Oh,” Astera said, laughing at the shock of the question. “I’ve had it for forever. Do you have any questions about childbirth?”

“Are the circles for sale?” he asked. She smiled. 

“Available for rent,” she said. “Would you like one?” 

“Maybe,” Rose said. “How do they work exactly?” 

“It’s just technology, perfectly safe,” Astera said with a curt nod. “If you change your mind, Grace can help ring you out.” 

The Doctor discreetly pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the ball, and Rose nibbled on her lip as she looked around the room. The same white material from the lobby was on each wall, and the Doctor handed Rose his sonic behind his back so it didn’t draw attention. She took it and looked at the data, and their eyes locked. 

_Corneal Imaging…_

_Your instincts knew it. You were nervous, but you questioned the eye scan immediately. They’re doing something with it._

They watched as the other two couples finished their questions, and Astera moved back to the middle of the room. “If you would like to join us, we meet every week. Nice to meet you, Rose. And you, Doctor.” 

They didn’t say anything, and the other couples applauded as Astera pressed her button again and the platform lowered, carrying her up into the roof. 

“Do you ever see her walking around here?” the Doctor asked Lauren, who shrugged. 

“I’ve never thought about it,” she said. “Isn’t she wonderful?” 

“She’s…” he said, trailing off. Something caught his eye and he stood, looking up at the roof. The other couples just exchanged looks, finding both him and Rose a little weird, and they made their way to the door with polite goodbyes, which Rose reciprocated. 

“What is it?” she whispered, crossing to him as he still stared at the roof. 

“Just...why come this way? Why not use the door?” he asked. 

“Dramatic affect?” Rose offered and he shook his head. 

“No, well, yes. It felt that way, didn’t it?” he murmured, looking at her. 

Suddenly, Grace was standing in the archway with a smile plastered on her face, and she cleared her throat. 

“Class is over. We have to prepare for the next one. You have to leave,” she said. 

Her voice wasn’t as soft and kind as it had been when they first arrived, and Rose felt her wheels turn as she took the Doctor’s hand and walked out of the door, back into the hall that had the butterflies in the case near the fountain. She turned to Grace and traced her tongue along her lips in thought. 

“We’re heading home tomorrow, back to England,” she began. “Can I have a copy of my medical record? My doctor there might want it.” 

“They’ll have to call our office and we can send it over, but I can’t release the record,” she said simply, and the Doctor pressed his back against the wall. 

“You can’t give someone their own medical record?” he asked with a hint of suspicion, enough to make Grace stare and have that same uncomfortable look on her face from before. 

“Like I said, have your doctor call. Thank you for stopping by,” she said, and she turned quickly, practically running out of the room back to the check in desk. 

“Mistake number one. She should have made sure to see us out,” Rose muttered, and the Doctor gave her a small smile of appreciation as Rose looked around. “I’m going to the loo.” 

“Okay,” he said, and she kissed him quickly. 

He stayed where he was for a moment, but he eventually moved toward the garden and watched the butterflies. They were small and strong in numbers, and he realized there must be close to two hundred of them flying around the box. There was an assortment of colors, but one caught his attention specifically, as he knew for a fact it wasn’t a species found on earth, even in the 47th century. 

His Adam’s apple bobbed and he walked around the box slowly, glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone was watching, and he looked up at the roof where they had allowed the sunlight to trickle in. 

Rose, meanwhile, quickly used the loo, but then spent the next few minutes looking for some sort of opening that could help them sneak into the floor Astera disappeared to. There were no stairs, and the building appeared to be one story, but she went _somewhere,_ and Rose was scanning the vent for the air conditioning slowly. It didn’t look like she knew air ducts in the 21st century looked, this one was much smaller and confined, and she sighed, realizing there was no way either of them could crawl through it. 

She walked out and saw her husband looking around, and he met her eyes from across the room. 

_Wait there for just a second, yeah?_

_Okay._

He had found a door to the glass, etched so perfectly into the design it was practically hidden, and he soniced it open. Rose watched, and he closed it behind him, immediately noticing the box was temperature controlled and environmentally perfect for the butterflies, and he moved to the one that looked out of place. 

It was slightly larger than the others, and it’s wings had a more square shape to them. It was flapping against a branch and he took a deep breath, scanning it as quickly as he could before it flew away. He had to try another time, but Rose saw the door to the lobby open and Grace walk back in, and she bolted over to her, distracting her with pretend stomach cramps and forced tears that looked very, very real, and the Doctor held his breath as he watched Rose get led out of the room by Grace, who was a little distraught. 

Her eyes locked with his and her tears stopped just long enough for a wink that made him fall impossibly more in love with her as the door to the lobby closed, and he slipped back out of the glass box, sonicing it shut again. 

_Can you get back in?_

_Oi, can’t cry and do this. Tell me what you found._

He laughed a little, almost thinking she sounded like her mother but he didn’t, aware she could hear him, and he focused. 

_One of the butterflies isn’t from Earth. It’s from Magnatus. It’s a simple planet. Cool climate, beautiful rainforests….The butterflies live there._

He waited for Rose to reply but she was distracted by Grace, who was asking where he was. He could hear her making up some excuse, and Grace went to open the lobby door again to come find him, but he was already on his way, startling her when she opened the door. 

“Is she alright? I tried to find some sort of medicine, but -” he said, and she just nodded. 

“Your...girlfriend? Wife?” she asked. 

“Wife,” he said, and Grace nodded. 

“Well, she’s in the lobby,” she said. “She’s fine. It passed, just a cramp.” 

“Thank you,” he said, and he winked at Rose as he grabbed her hand and Grace just waved them goodbye. 

He walked out of the front doors and immediately let out a breath, and Rose looked up at him. 

“I was never your ‘girlfriend’,” she said. “Was I?” 

He looked at her in surprise as they moved away from the building to try and find a way back in, and he just sniffed. “I...not technically.” 

“We skipped a few steps, didn’t we?” she said, her tongue in cheek smile darting out and making his breath catch, and they looked over their shoulders as they tucked into an alleyway and began to move slowly, both of their sonic screwdrivers in front of them. 

“Do you want to go back? Be my girlfriend?” he teased, his hearts skipping a beat for some reason. 

“I mean...just what would it have been like? Would you have wooed me? Dates? Sex?” she said, biting her lip, and he just laughed a little, stepping up on a pile of metal boxes that were discarded in the back of the building to try and look for an opening of some sort. 

“We went on dates, Rose Tyler,” he reminded her. 

“You never called them that,” she said. 

“No, but you did,” he said, smiling down at her, and she rubbed her lips together as she looked at him, and for a moment they were two young idiots sitting on apple grass, him in his pinstripes and her in that purple shirt, the wind blowing around her face, and he just shook his head. “I love you.” 

“I love you, too,” she said. “I also s’pose you may have wooed me, a bit.” 

“Did I?” he asked, a wild grin on his face. He was about to make another flirty comment when his hand touched something metal, and he lifted a flap that blended into the wall. “They’re all about disguises, aren’t they? First the glass box and now this. There’s a window here.” 

He held his sonic in his mouth as he examined it, and he dropped it into his hand and scanned, pushing it fully open. He heard a security system clicking faster and saw the sensor on the wall, and he aimed his screwdriver at, turning it off before it alerted anyone. “You can’t crawl in here.” 

“That’s okay, find a door. Let me in,” she said with a smile, and he mouthed a kiss as he slid through, landing with a soft thump against his chucks and he looked around, realizing he was in an office. 

It was very clear it was Astera’s when he looked at the desk. He immediately looked through all the drawers and file cabinets, but he quickly remembered it was the 47th century, and paper wasn’t exactly a common way to store information anymore. 

He sniffed and walked out, scanning the room with the butterflies again for a way to let Rose in. Another class was beginning in a different classroom than the one they had been in, and he glanced over just as the door was about to close, watching just out of sight to see if the roof lowered in the same way. 

It did.


	3. Take a Stand

He could hear Astera once again leading a class, this time on changing diapers and prepping formula, and he felt his mind work quickly, piecing everything together. He suspected that she was probably alien, but her purpose was unclear, as she seemed to know a decent amount about the human body and caring for infants, and he couldn’t quite tell if harming anyone was her goal. 

_Doctor, there’s a door on the other side of the wall where you went in. It’s also hidden._

_Left or right?_

_I dunno...my right?_

He smirked and walked around, eventually spotting what Rose was talking about in the hallway that led to the loo she was in earlier. He opened it and ushered her in, holding his finger to his lips and winking at her, and for a moment, he pressed her to the wall, kissing her tenderly. 

It didn’t feel like their usual kisses. There was a slight hesitancy, a curiosity that made her knees go weak and she wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him for support as he slowly brushed his hand on her waist in a way that made it seem like it’s all he’d ever thought about and yet was still holding back. He pulled away with a small moan and watched as her eyes fluttered open, dazed. 

“Might have been something like that,” he whispered. 

“What?” she asked. 

“Our first kiss. First, well...if I ever….if I wasn’t such a coward and if you were never pulled into a parallel universe and if we just got to be together from the start. If you actually broke up with Mickey the Idiot when you wanted to, and I asked you to be my girlfriend properly, and it didn’t take a literal Greek God to get me to finally accept what I always knew, and -” 

She kissed him again. 

They were lost in each other for a moment, both deciding the universe could wait as she explored his mouth with her tongue, territory she was so familiar with by now, but she still craved, and she left him pulling her back for another when she pulled away, not quite satisfied or ready to let her go. 

They finally separated and looked at each other, and he bit his lip, an action she’d only ever seen him do once before and she found herself roped in completely, wishing they weren’t in this hallway and could be on their bed, and just smiled seductively at her. 

“And I imagine, that had we dated properly before we got married, there would have been _a lot_ of sex. We did it twice before, if you remember,” he murmured, his breath like whisky. It was cool as he spoke, then hot, and it prickled her skin as the words washed over her, and she just let her tongue do the talking as it circled her lips to stop herself from making any sort of whimper, and she let out a breath. 

“Our first time was perfect,” she breathed out, that warm feeling he always managed to give her settling in her gut. 

“I’m rather fond of it,” he murmured with a wink, and she cupped her hand to his cheek. 

“Our first proper kiss was, too,” she said softly. “Me smelling of sea salt in that stupid leather jacket, sobbing that I was finally in your arms? You sobbing right back?” 

“It was such a messy kiss. And Donna interrupted,” he whispered, and she nodded.

“But it was you,” she said, and he felt his throat tighten. “That made it perfect.” 

She saw it in his eye, a moment where he was trying to process how any of this was real, and she wondered if he’d ever be able to truly come to accept that she kept her promise of forever, even as she stood before him pregnant with his daughter. 

He opened his mouth but they heard a noise from around the corner and he sighed, aware the moment was ruined and the universe apparently needed them again. 

“Come on,” he whispered, and she followed him, hand in hand, just in time to see the butterflies in the box start to hit the sides of the glass. “That’s weird.” 

“Tell me more about the planet,” she said under her breath as they tried to make their way back to the room they had taken their class in. 

“Right,” he said, honestly having forgotten about that in all their flirting. “Like I said, it’s a cool climate. Lots of rainforests. There is one race of humanoid that lives there. Called the Magnits. Their blood is unique. It needs electric currents to pulse the way it should rather than a heart. And, well...sort of like how humans need the oxygen you get from trees, they get the currents from the butterflies. They are a lifesource. ” 

“What kind of electricity?” she asked as he soniced the door open and let her in first. She flipped the lights on as he closed the door and looked back up at the roof. 

“Ions, really, more than electricity. Positively charged ions course through their bloodstream in a way that would be harmful to humans,” he murmured. “And, I s’pose, they can probably sense things like heartbeats, too. Sometimes ions can affect how fast one beats.” 

He shared a glance with her, and Rose smirked. “Sounds like we found ourselves a complicated little alien today, didn’t we?” 

“One that loves butterflies,” the Doctor said, smiling, and Rose glanced down at her stomach just as her own flutters began again, and the Doctor just shook his head. “I think she’s howling, Rose Tyler. Already helping Mummy and Daddy. Leading us where we need to be.” 

Rose smiled and he hugged her for a moment, giving her a small squeeze, both not sure how to voice how that thought made them feel, and he just deflected, feeling rather happy. “What do you say? Solve this problem and maybe I can take you on one of those proper dates I owe you?” 

“Only if we get chips,” she said with a smile, and he winked. 

“Who do you take me for?” he said seriously, and he looked up. “Shall we?” 

They both raised their sonic screwdrivers above their head and scanned, stepping back as the platform began to lower down. They watched it carefully and they held hands as they climbed onto it, lifting it back up into the air, and they quickly realized, as the platform reached its destination, that this building wasn’t a building at all. 

It was a spaceship. 

“Oh this is beautiful,” the Doctor whistled. 

Her instincts guided her as she stepped off the platform into a large white room. They could see the control panel directly in front of them with all the flight gear in place and the Doctor moved to it immediately, looking at each knob and dial slowly, and he frowned. 

“It’s broken,” he said. Rose looked at him and then turned her attention to the walls that looked like snow, seeing the same white material that was on the floor below them, but she was able to get a closer look, realizing it was millions of silk cocoons. 

“Oh, God, ew,” she said, and the Doctor moved to it as well. 

“I mean, that’s brilliant,” he said. She just gave him a look and he started rambling about the life cycle of butterflies being the same on all planets. She just let him, walking around the ship slowly, taking it all in and he let out a breath, sitting down in the pilot's seat in front of the broken control panel. 

“They must have crashed. The spaceship has a Chameleon Circuit, same as the TARDIS….So it’s being disguised as this birthing center for some reason,” he mused. 

“They can’t leave?” Rose asked, trying to ignore the cocoons that for some reason were really getting under her skin. He reached for her hand, rubbing it in comfort as they deducted together. 

“No, the entire thing is…” he said, breaking off and thinking. “It's powered by the same electric currents in the butterflies just in a circuit board, but the whole thing is fried. It’s called a Butterfly Effect.” 

They shared an amused glance, and Rose peered over his shoulder at the controls. 

“And the only butterfly they have from their planet is the one in the box?” Rose asked. 

“Well, they have all of these,” the Doctor said, standing and crossing to the wall. “But they’re...OH!” He scanned one, and his brow furrowed, the pieces not adding up in his head. “These are silkworms.”

“What, like, from Earth?” Rose began and the Doctor just nodded, lowering his sonic screwdriver to his side and running his hand through his hair. 

“Ooooh Rose Tyler!” he said, and he began to pace in that way he does. “You felt sick when you used the ball, right?” 

“Nauseated, yeah,” she murmured. “It went away quickly. But there was a moment -” 

“It was positive ions,” he said, “It has to be. Your body was flooded with positive ions...Oh oh oh!” 

“Doctor -” Rose tried to say, not keeping up with him at all. His blocks had gone up, as they always do when he thinks too hard and he quickly lowered them, sending her everything as their eyes locked, and they both looked at the control panel. 

“Positive ions, they’re harmful to humans,” the Doctor began. “Not fatal, but they can cause fatigue and nausea and other symptoms, and if you are exposed to too much over a long period of time, it can lead to brittle bones or other problems, but it all depends on the type of positive ion, too. There’s lots of them, and -” 

“Is Alice okay?” Rose asked, stopping his ramble, and he nodded. 

“She’s fine, she’s safe, I promise,” he said. “Here.” 

He scanned her just to make sure, showing her the results as Rose bit her lip, and they began to deduct together. 

“The Magnits need positive ions, not negative ions, to pump their blood? And you said they get them from the butterflies?” Rose said, and the Doctor nodded. 

“Yes, but the butterflies aren’t here. They must have died, when this ship crashed. All except one, and now...Now, Rose Tyler, now -” 

He stopped speaking, on the precipice of putting all together when the other platform began to lower on the opposite side of where they walked in, and the Doctor remembered the class Astera had been teaching in the other room. 

He grabbed Rose’s hand and they darted around the corner, hiding in the shadows as Astera walked off the platform and brushed her hand along the cocoons, making Rose grimace, and they saw her stop in front of the control panel and sigh. 

Rose let her instincts lead. 

“Astera,” she said, stepping forward. The woman jumped and screamed, and Rose held her hands up as if to say she ‘came in peace’, and Astera just glared at her, looking behind her shoulder at the Doctor, who was walking back out as well. 

“What the HELL are you doing here?” she said sternly. 

“We want to help,” Rose said. “We know you’re not from Earth.” 

“Of course I’m from Earth,” she snapped. “How did you even get up here?” They both held up their sonic screwdrivers, and Astera just looked at them. “Is that supposed to scare me?” 

“No,” the Doctor said. “Does it?” 

“No,” Astera said. “Who are you?” 

“We’re the Doctor and Rose Tyler,” he said. “We’re actually married. We’re actually having a baby. And despite how...unnecessary I found the first part of your lesson today, we appreciate your help.” 

Rose knew he was trying to get her to talk to them, and she decided to butter her up a little more. “We came here because you have the best reviews out of everyone in the history of Earth. People love your classes.” 

“Well….that’s nice,” she said. “I’ve been a midwife for 600 years, I mean, 60, I mean…” 

“It’s okay,” Rose said, stepping forward just a touch. “He’s 907.” 

The Doctor smirked at her and Astera just looked at him, surprised. “You look very good for your age.” 

“I moisturize,” the Doctor joked, and Rose caught on immediately, looking back at him with his favorite smile as he winked. “You’re from Magnatus.” 

Astera just stiffened, and Rose swallowed her pride and walked over to the cocoons, watching her carefully. “You’re not going to get home with these, are you?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Astera whispered. “You need to leave.”

“Mind if I sit? Pregnant and all,” Rose asked. 

“I...Of course,” Astera said, unable not to make sure a woman carrying a child gets what she needs, and Rose sensed she was conflicted, and she wanted to find out why. “Do you need food? Or water?” 

“I’m alright,” Rose said with a smile. “Why don’t you tell us what happened.” 

“I…” she started to say, and the Doctor leaned against the controls and began to rub Rose’s neck a little. 

“Can I tell you what I think?” he offered, and Astera began to tremble just a little. “I think you don’t have to be afraid. We travel the universe. We’ve met plenty of people who aren’t human, and we aren’t going to hurt you.” 

Astera began to rub her hands together nervously, and the Doctor continued. “I think you crashed and your Chameleon Circuit kicked in, helping you blend into this new world. I think you’re trying to get home, and you’ve been using these birthing classes as a way to do that.” 

“I’m trying to help,” Astera said. “Make the most of a...of an unfortunate situation.” 

“What do you need the cornea scans for?” he asked, and she closed her eyes, realizing she had somehow been outsmarted. 

“We use them to pull negative ions out of the humans’ blood,” she whispered. “Advanced technology. The circles were part of our navigation system and we just...reworked it. In some pregnancies, negative ions are often increased. It’s not harmful in any way, I swear. I would never…”

“You’re putting those women in pain,” the Doctor said. “Simulating labor so you can harvest their ions?”

He was starting to feel angry again. 

“It helps them prepare. And it helps me prepare. It’s good for everyone. No one knows who we are or what this place is….Grace is my daughter. We’ve crafted backstories to help fit in, and we were grateful to land here, in this time, when the population is so large we’re seeing so many mothers each week we’re able to get plenty of ions safely, while also helping to bring new life into this world.” 

“Why negative?” Rose asked. She sighed. 

“I am aware of my blood’s affect on the human body,” she said. “Positive ions, I know, are ill-matched to your DNA. So we pull negative ions, which won’t harm the mother or the baby, and we lock them in the circles. Then we take them here, and Grace and I work to convert them into positive ions that we are feeding to these cocoons, to try and charge the butterflies.” 

“But I felt sick,” Rose said. “When I used the ball.” 

“You shouldn’t have. Are you human?” Astera asked, alarmed, and Rose looked at the Doctor, both realizing this experiment affected her in a way it wasn’t supposed to. 

“Look at me,” he said, scanning her again just to make sure. She was fine and she knew it. All the scans were pointing to it, and he just let out a breath and clenched his jaw, relieved and a little angry with himself for bringing her here, and Rose just squeezed his hand. 

“You’re still making women go through pain when their body already knows what to do,” he muttered. Astera just looked at him. 

“I have a feeling, Doctor, you and I just aren’t going to see eye to eye on that matter,” she said with conviction, and Rose rubbed her lips together. 

“Look, it’s not hurting anyone, and that’s the important part, yeah?” Rose said, “If a woman wants to do it, then let her do it. If she doesn’t, then she doesn’t. It’s not complicated.” 

The Doctor decided to drop it. 

“Are you dying?” he asked, changing the subject, and Rose looked at him in alarm. Astera’s eyes welled with tears. 

“Yes,” she said. “I tried mixing the last butterfly from my planet into the box with ones from Earth, but they won’t mate. They don’t do anything, so we collected all these silkworms, in hopes that we could morph them into something that would help us.” 

“You never tried to fix the ship and just go home?” Rose asked. Astera clenched her hands as she rubbed them. 

“It’s one of a kind,” she said. “It’s not an easy task.” 

The Doctor tilted his head as he listened to her, not sure he completely believed her and he sniffed, stepping away from Rose a bit to scan the control panel again. “We asked Grace for her records and she said no. Why?” 

“We don’t actually keep them,” she admitted. “If a child is born here, we send them to the hospital right after so their birth certificate and paperwork is properly handled.” 

“Why?” he asked. 

“I’m not human,” she said. “Our customs are different. I need to keep up appearances so no one goes snooping and -” 

“Discovers your spaceship?” he asked, looking around him. She frowned. 

“I don’t expect you to understand, Doctor. Your wife is healthy, your baby, apart from its murmur, felt strong when I listened to the currents in their heart. You clearly know about my race, my people...but I don’t expect you understand what it's like to feel alone and lost. That’s how Grace and I feel, and we’re trying to stay together. We’re trying to survive. We aren’t hurting anyone. We would never.” 

He felt his stomach twist at her words, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he just looked down at the control panel and nodded. “I can fix your ship.” 

“What?” she asked, as if it was the very last thing she expected him to say. 

“I’m a bit of a genius,” he said simply, and Astera just looked at Rose. 

“He’s not lacking in confidence, is he?” she asked, and Rose bit her lip. 

“It’s the hair,” she said, and Astera laughed a little as the Doctor rolled his eyes and looked at the panel. “How long have you been here?” 

“A while,” she said. “I’m very sorry you felt sick during the simulation.” 

“It’s okay,” Rose said, “You didn’t know. We didn’t know. I’m fine.” 

Astera began to wring her hands again, and she let out a breath. “I should go tell Grace.” 

“Okay,” Rose murmured, giving her a small smile as Astera hesitated, and the Doctor looked at her, an alarm bell ringing in his head. 

“It wasn’t your only class,” he said. “The labor simulations. You were leading one about -” 

“We have to eat, Doctor,” she said. “And on Earth, that means making money. Which means offering a wide variety of classes. I am a midwife, remember.” 

He looked at Rose who nodded, silently telling him her instincts believed her, and she watched as Astera lowered herself back down on one of the platforms to go get Grace. The Doctor sighed. 

“What?” Rose asked, and he just shook his head. 

“Do you feel better? After taking the class?” he whispered, and she smiled at him. 

“I do,” she said, reaching for his hand. “Thank you.” He nodded and returned to examining the control panel, and she watched him for a moment, able to tell something was bothering him. “Remember an hour ago when you said we came here because of Alice?” 

He sighed, pulling wires out of the main board and tossing them to the side. 

“I don’t know why you’re upset, but stop. Okay? Everything is fine,” she said softly. He shifted something in the panel and his brow creased, confused at what he was looking at. 

“I’m fine,” he said quickly. “What?!” 

“What?” she said, moving to try and take a look as well. 

“It’s just not what I expected,” he said. 

“She said she turned the navigation system into the circles, do you - “ she said, and he just stopped and stared at her. 

“You’re brilliant,” he whistled, amazed, but not surprised she figured it out. “Yes. Yeah, that’s what’s missing.” 

“I can go get them,” she said, but he grabbed her hand. 

“Stay,” he murmured. “Astera or Grace can bring them up.” 

She nodded and sat back down in the chair. “Doctor, what is it?” 

“Nothing. I'm fine,” he said, lowering his sonic for a moment while he twisted something until it clicked, and he continued to examine the panel. He could feel her eyes on him, and he sniffed, knowing she wasn't going to let him off the hook at all. “Old habits.” 

“Old habits?” she repeated, not sure where he was going with this. He nodded, still working. 

“I don’t…” he said, breaking off. “When we met, Rose, I wasn’t exactly the type of person who saw the good in people. Sort of always assumed they were up to something.” 

“Don’t do that,” she said. “I thought this was all shady, too.” 

“Right, but you stopped when she told you the truth,” he said. “I didn’t. I kept digging and probably insulting her, in some way, and I just…” 

“Doctor, you were being thorough,” she said, and he sighed, his next words not at all what she expected. 

“What kind of role model am I going to be to her, Rose, if all I do is assume the worst in people?” he said, stopping his work to stare at her. She tilted her head to the side, trying not to laugh from the absurdity of that fear. 

“That’s not what you do,” she said quietly, and he just sniffed and cleared his throat. 

“Right,” he muttered, looking back at the panel. 

“Don’t do that,” she said, and he just swallowed and scanned, grabbing one of the wires from the floor so he could plug it in again. “Doctor.” 

“What?” he said sharply, and they both knew he didn’t mean it. He immediately closed his eyes and she saw the vein in his temple throb as if he was grinding his teeth. 

“Look at me,” she said. “Or don’t, that’s fine, but just listen.” He glanced up at her, and she smiled at him, a dazzling smile that made him emotional for some reason, and she stood to brush his hair back. “You’re my role model.” 

“Rose…” he groaned, and she looked at him very seriously. 

“I mean it,” she said. “Can I show you something?” 

He sighed and nodded, and she sent him a memory, one that she held dear to her heart. 

_She was sitting at a table, staring out the window in her red punkyfish jacket and black jeans. Her cheeks were tearstained, and Jackie and Mickey sat across from her, both unsure what to do._

_“It was a better life,” Rose said, her voice quivering. “I don’t mean all the travelling and seeing aliens and stuff, that don’t matter. The Doctor showed me a better way of living your life.” Her voice was rising in volume as her conviction grew, and Mickey looked down. “He showed you too. That you don’t just give up. You don’t just let things happen. You make a stand. You say no. You have the guts to do what’s right when everyone else just runs away!”_

_She stood and darted out of the door, running back toward the TARDIS with Jackie and Mickey at her heels._

He stared at her when the memory ended, and she was running her hand across his cheek, her eyes a little teary. “That was the moment I decided to save you. To look into the heart of the TARDIS. That’s the moment that let me give you forever. And I did it, Doctor, because I meant everything I said. You make me better. You make everyone you come across _better._ ” 

He couldn’t speak, he just looked down at his feet as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he buried his face into her hair. His arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her to him as best he could, and he let out a shaky breath. 

“If I have to spend the next thousand years convincing you of that I will, you got that?” she said in his ear, and he closed his eyes, so completely hers it was making him dizzy, and he just pressed his lips to her head over and over and over. 

“Thank you,” he eventually whispered after what felt like an eternity, and she smiled. 

“Our daughter is the luckiest girl in the world to have you. You may not believe that, but I do, and she so will she,” she murmured against his chest, and he scrunched his face to try and stop his emotions from getting away from him, but a few overwhelmed tears snuck their way through and he sniffed, wiping them away instantly. 

“I’m the lucky one, Rose,” he whispered. “I can’t...I...You are…” 

And for the thousandth time in their relationship, Rose made him forget how to speak. She kissed him, figuring it was the best way to express how both were feeling, and he instantly moaned against her mouth, his hands in her hair as her tongue made sure he knew he wasn’t alone. 

They both ignored the sound of the platform as it moved, and Astera and Grace both averted their eyes at the kiss of utter passion they walked in on, and neither Rose or the Doctor broke it for a moment, needing to savor each other for as long as they could. 

“I love you,” he said as he looked into her eyes, and she smiled. 

“Quite right, too,” she murmured. “I love you, too.” 

He took a deep breath before he looked over at Astera, and Grace looked nervous. “I need the circles. Have to take them apart and reattach the parts.” 

“If you do that -” Grace began, and Rose cut in, trying to ease her. 

“If he does that you can fly out of here and you don’t need to worry about the butterflies anymore,” she said. Astera walked over to the panel, looking at the work the Doctor had done so far, and she just shook her head. 

“You’re a doctor of….medicine?” she asked with a small smirk. He shrugged. 

“I said a little bit of everything, didn’t I?” he said softly, trying to forgive himself, and Astera just laughed. 

“Thank you,” she said with earnest. “I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t come along.” 

“Don’t mention it,” Rose said, and Astera just took a deep breath. 

“I have something for you,” she said, and she took her butterfly clip out of her hair. “I know it’s not a lot, but….” 

“Thank you,” Rose said with a smile. Astera just nodded. 

Grace appeared a few minutes later with a bag of all the circles, and Astera gave Rose food and water as they all worked to take the equipment apart. The Doctor and Rose shared a few of their stories, and Astera and Grace laughed over the first thing they’ll do when they get back home. The air, which had been so distrusting and thick at the beginning of the day, was light and joyous as the Doctor finally attached the last piece of the grid in place and he flipped a switch. 

A sound echoed around them as the ship woke up, and Astera and Grace clung to each other, breaking down. 

Rose just bit her lip, winking at him, and he cleared his throat as he looked at the two of them, stepping away from the panel. 

“Good as new,” he said with a smile. He stiffened, just for a moment, when both Grace and Astera caught him in a bone crushing hug, but he quickly laughed and hugged them both back, taking Rose’s hand as they looked over everything, realizing they could go home. 

“Thank you,” Grace said. “Oh, thank you.” 

He nodded and Astera looked dazed, then shook her head. “We can’t just leave our patients.” 

“Sure you can,” Rose said. “There’s other birthing centers they can go to. You’ll just be a mystery. One that will never be solved.”

Astera sighed and looked at Grace. 

“I want to go home, Mama,” she whispered, and Astera kissed her forehead, looking back at the Doctor and Rose. 

“From the bottom of my heart. Thank you,” she said. 

They both hugged them one last time before they made their way out of the front doors, and they walked a fair bit of distance away, looking up at the sky, which was now dark, as the entire spaceship became invisible with the help of the Chameleon Circuit, and before they knew it, it was gone. 

A moment passed where neither said anything. 

“A Day in the Life of a Time Lord,” he mused. “I love you.” 

“I love you,” she said, smiling at him. “Now come, mister, someone promised me pizza and chips.” 

He smiled widely at her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they walked forward, laughing and flirting and bantering like always, and they ate more food than they thought they could. 

And for a moment, all was as it should be.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, my friends! We're at the point of the series where they are going to start solving some things as more stories come out. 
> 
> I'm writing these stories one by one and sometimes things don't go as planned (including this one) so I'm not sure how long this is all going to take. The timeline is quite large in my head, and there are still a lot more adventures to go on. But I tried to recap everything so far at the very beginning of this one in case it was hard to remember everything they've discovered / maybe there were readers who hadn't read all the other stories. 
> 
> Thanks again for reading, reviewing, leaving kudos, or subscribing. Hope all is well!


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